Otto Lewis Hunter Hine

Captain Otto Lewis Hunter Hine was born on 26 June 1892, in Floydada, Texas, and moved to Oklahoma in 1909. A 1911 graduate of Muskogee’s Central High School, he is a 1915 graduate of Kansas City’s Western Dental College. He established a dental practice in Muskogee. Ten days after America entered World War I, Hine registered for the draft and was sworn in as a 1^st Lieutenant in the US Army Dental Corps Reserve. In July 1917 he was called to active duty with the 139^th Infantry, 35^th Division, at Camp Doniphan, Oklahoma.

Arriving in France in May 1918 and training for 14 months, Hine’s 2d Battalion, 139^th Infantry entered combat against the Germans in the Meuse-Argonne region on 25 September. When his unit was relieved on 1 October, it had suffered heavy casualties: 580 of its 962 enlisted men and 17 of its 22 officers. Lieutenant Hine was awarded the second highest award for valor, the Distinguished Service Cross, for his actions at Chaudron Farm, France, on 29-30 September. His citation reads in part: “Upon his own initiative, Captain Hine went to a dressing station in advance of the line, after the infantry had withdrawn, and worked under heavy bombardment of gas and high explosive shells, dressing the patients, and directing their evacuation. That night he returned to our lines through heavy artillery and machine-gun fire to arrange for ambulances and litters. Later he made another trip to the rear for the purpose of securing an artillery barrage to protect his dressing station. Through his exceptional courage and energy, all the wounded men were safely evacuated.”

Dr. Hine resumed his dental practice in Muskogee until his death in 1962. In 1920 he was elected the first Commander of the James F. Smith Memorial American Legion Post #15 in Muskogee. In 1944 Hine was president of the Muskogee Kiwanis Club and was an avid sportsman and conservationist.